Plug valve assembly for aerosol type dispensers of fluid products



J. MARAND June 25, 1968 PLUG VALVE ASSEMBLY FOR AEROSOL TYPE DISPENSERS OF FLUID PRODUCTS Filed Jun'e 28. 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR BY M/@Mig Wf/ ATTORNEYS 2 Sheets-Sheet z Quill I lll ,l

J. MARAND June 25, 1968 PLUG VALVE ASSEMBLY `FOR AEROSOL TYPE DISPENSERS OF FLUID PRODUCTS Filed June 28, 1967 INVENTOR mhm/ United States Patent O 11 Claims. (3cr. 222-193) ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A plug valve assembly for dispensers of fluid products :and having a product container for containing the iluid product to be dispensed and adapted to accommodate a propellant cartridge within the product container, said plug valve assembly comprising a hollow rod, a valve actuator on the upper end of said rod and having a nozzle therein, a cap member having an aperture therein through which the hollow rod is movable, a valve body on the lower side of said cap member and into which said valve rod is slidable through said aperture, the assembly having three ow paths therethrough, one for the propellant, one for the iluid product, and one for atmospheric air to flow into the space within the product container above the iluid product, two flexible gaskets in said assembly through which said hollow rod passes, one of said gaskets obturating two of said flow paths, a propellant cartridge secured to said valve body, and a dip tube extending through said propellant cartridge to the bottom of said valve body and opening into said one flow path, said dip tube being in fluid tight engagement with said propellant cartridge where it passes therethrough.

This invention relates to a plug valve with push-button control for dispenser appliances of products in liquid or powder form, and more particularly relates to such valve for dispenser appliances of the aerosol type, especially of the type having triple obturation. The valve comprises a mobile member actuated by a Valve actuator in the form of a push-button simultaneously controlling a high pressure obturator and two low pressure obturators.

Plug valves of this kind have already been described in the U.S. Patent 3,289,949.

In the said patent the dispenser has an outer product container containing an active agent and a propellant cartridge in which a propellant is accommodated, which propellant generally consists of a liquefied hydrocarbon, the liquid stage being in equilibrium with the vapour stage when the propellant is quiescent. The passage of the gaseous propellant towards a spray nozzle contained in the valve actuator for the plug valve is controlled by the high pressure obturator.

The dispenser further comprises a dip tube which dips into the active agent and which is in communication with the spray nozzle, the flow of the active agent therethrough being controlled by one of the low pressure obturators. The other low pressure obturator controls the admission of atmospheric air into the receptacle as it is emptied for the purpose of equalizing the internal and external pressures, this admission taking place concurrently with the other operations when -the push-button valve actuator is operated.

In these -prior devices the dip tube is independent of the propellant cartridge. It is iixed to the body of the plug valve and dips directly into the material in the product container.

There are also known, as disclosed at the Interpack Exposition Fair at Dusseldorf from the 12th to the 18th of May, 1966, other dispensers comprising a plug valve,

3,389,837 Patented June 25, 1958 ICC a push-button valve actuator and a cartridge propellant accommodated in a product container and coaxial with it. In these dispensers the dip tube which starts from the plug valve traverses the propellant cartridge axially and leaves through the bottom thereof through a uidtight joint, finally reaching the bottom ofthe product container.

Such dispensers are to some extent easy to produce and assemble, but they only have one obturator, a high pressure obturator, for the propellant. The dip tube cornmunicates directly with the spray nozzle. It follows that when the dispenser is at rest, the equalization of the pressures between the interior lof the product container and the atmosphere must be effected automatically through the unvalved dip tube. However, there is the serious drawback of possible leakage, either when the dispenser is placed head downwards, or when it is heated, for example by being exposed to the sun, because `of the expansion of the gases it contains, which causes the active agent to llow up through the dip tube and out the spray nozzle. Furthermore, during prolonged use of such a dispenser the pressure in the product container will be reduced, which reduces the rate of expulsion of the active agent.

An object of the present invention is to overcome these drawbacks and to provide triple obturation of a dispenser having dip tube which passes through a propellant cartridge which is within the product container.

A further object of the invention is to provide such triple obturation with as great an economy as possible, in such a way as not to raise the cost of the dispenser and to reduce the risk of defects and the number of rejects during production.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a dispenser which can be produced easily, and in which the parts can be of plastic and need not be made of excessively close manufacturing tolerances, because such close tolerances are not suited to the utilization of plastic components in large scale production.

According to the invention the push-button actuated plug valve for dispensers for products in liquid or powder form, which dispenser has a liquefied propellant under pressure contained in a propellant cartridge accommodated inside a product container containing the active agent, has three separate flow paths, one for the propellant, one for the liquid to be sprayed and one for connecting the interior of the product container with the atmosphere respectively, each of these ow paths being controlled by an obturator. The active agent ilow path comprises a dip tube which dips into the agent, passes through the propellant reservoir and extends to the base of the plug valve, and the valve comprises a hollow sliding rod which passes through two sealing gaskets, one acting as a double obturator for both the propellant flow path and one of the other ilow paths, while the second sealing gasket a-cts as an `obturator for the third ilow path.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the sealing gasket acting as the double obturator is arranged in the propellant ilow path and the iiow path connecting the product container with the atmosphere, while the second sealing gasket controls the active agent ilow path.

The invention will now be described in greater detail by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE l is a sectional View, lon a small scale, 0f a dispenser of the aerosol type with a plug valve in accordance with the invention iitted thereon;

FIGURE 2 is an axial sectional view, on a larger scale, showing the plug valve in the closed position; and

FIGURE 3 is a View similar to FIGURE 2 showing the plug-valve in the valve actuated position.

In the embodiment of the invention which will be de- 3 scribed hereinafter, it is presupposcd that the plug valve of the invention is applied to a push-button valve actuator type dispenser' for spraying a substance 1 in liquid or powder form (FiGURE 1) contained in a product container 2 of plastic or metal.

The plug-valve is mounted on a product container cap 3 for capping the product contain-er 2. For this purpose the periphery of the cap 3 has a depending flange which engages with a reduced diameter collar 4 or" the container 2, and the flange can be welded peripherally along the collar or bonded lirmly to it.

The cap 3 has at its center an aperture 5 through which extends a rod 6 the upper end of which is covered by the push-button valve actuator 8 which is secured thereto. The actuator 8 contains a spray nozzle insert 9 defining the spray nozzle.

The cap 3 also has an annular depending projection 11 for engagement around a lateral annular projection 12 on a propellant cartridge 13 of metal or plastic and containing for instance a liqueed gas such as a fluorochlorinated hydrocarbon. The propellant cartridge 13 is accommodated inside the container 2.

In the particular embodiment in question the dispenser has a dip tube 14 for feeding the liquid 1 to he sprayed towards the nozzle insert 9. The tube 14 passes through the bottom 15 of the propellant cartridge 3 through a liuid tight joint, and then axially through the cartridge. Fluid tightness is ensured by a crimping element or the like 16.

The plug valve further comprises a hollow valve body 18, of cast material for example. This hollow body is also accommodated inside the reservoir 13 and has at its upper end a peripheral bulge 19 which tits in the annular projections 12 of the cartridge 13, which in turn is 'gripped by the depending projection 11, so that the propellant cartridge 13 and the valve body 18 therein is suspended from the underneath side of the cap 3.

Between the cap 3 and the edge ot the components 12 and 19 is gripped a tiexible annular sealing gasket 21 through the center of which passes the rod 6 and which engages in an annular constriction 22 in this rod. The constriction 22 has the lower edge defined by a shoulder just above a plug 23 of greater diameter than the rod 6 and from which the rod 6 extends. Plug 23 is accommodated in valve cup 18a inside the valve body 18.

The cap 3 has an inner annular projection 24 around the aperture 5. The surface of the sealing gasket 21 opposite the projection 24 is engaged by the shoulder 25, the dimensions of these components being suticient to permit. the gasket 21 to .flex when the plug valve is operated, as will be described later. A bleeder duct 41 extends from just behind the projection 24 and opens into the interior of the product container 2.

The shoulder 25 is urged, when the valve is at rest, against the gasket 21 by a spring 26 which is supported between a second shoulder 27 on the bottom of the plug 23 and a collar 28 extending upwardly from the body 18. Extending axially through the spring 26 from plug 23 is a nipple 29 extending to and entering the tube 14 through a exible scaling gasket 31 held between the end of the dip tube 14 and the collar 28. The fixing of the tube 14 to the valve body 18 is faciliated by a sleeve 2 projecting from the valve body into which the end of the tube 14 extends. There passes longitudinally through the rod 6 a duct 45 for conducting the active agent 7, which duct terminates at the lower end in a transverse orifice 46. At the other end the duct 45 opens into a duct 47 in the push button valve actuator 8 which communicates with an annular chamber 48 in the actuator 8. Into the chamber 4S there open radial ducts 49 in the nozzle insert 9, which nozzle insert has a nozzle therein having a convergent portion 51 and a divergent portion. 52 connected by a choke portion 53, the portions touethcr forming a venturi in a known CII It manner. The radial ducts 49 extend from the chock portions S3.

The axial duct 45 in the rod 6 is surrounded by an annular duct 55 provided in the upper part ot the rod, the annular duct 45 opening at its lower cnd into th: annular constriction 22 through an orilice 55. ti/hen the plug valve is at rest the orice 56 is obturated by the inner lip of the annular gasket 21. At the other end the annular duct 55 communicates with a recess 57 in the actuator 8 into which recess the convergent portion 51 of the nozzle insert opens.

A noteworthly feature of this arrangement is that the sealing gasket 21 acts as a double obturator. It i: positioned, in fact, both in the propellant flow path and in the flow path for placing the interior of the container 2 in communication with the exterior of the container when the push-button actuator 7 is pressed down.

High pressure obturation is ensured by contact between the shoulder 25 and the surface 20 of the gasket 21 facing towards the cartridge 13. The pressure of the shoulder 25 on the surface 23 cornes both from the spring 26 and the vapor pressure of the propellant contained in the cartiridge 13. The cartridge communicates with the body 18 through one or more aperatures 30 in the valve body.

The other surface itl ot the gasket 21 is brought into relationship with the gaseous medium above the liquid 1 contained in the receptacle 2 through the radial bleeder duct 41 in the annular projection 11. This bleec'er duet communicates with an annular chamber 42 provided in the cap 3 and is separated from the bore 5 by the projection 24.

The assembly of the flexible sealing gasket 31 and the hollow nipple 29 constitutes the single obturstor of the plug valve, this obturator serving for controlling the passage ot the liquid 1 from the tube 14 towards the nozzle insert 9.

To mount the plug Valve, the valve body 18, tube 14 and gasket 31 being already assembled, there is inserted in the body 1S the spring 26 and the plug 23 of the rod 6 which carries the cxible gasket 21 engaged in the constriction 22. The assembly is capped by the cap 3 and the projection 11 of this latter is hot set onto the annular projection 12 on the cartridge 13. Finally the head 8 provided with the nozzle insert 9 is force litted onto the upper end ot rod 6.

The plug valve assembly is then mounted on a product container 2 by securing the depending flange to collar 4.

In operation, it will be found first of all that at rest, in spite of there being only two tiexible gaskets 21 and 31, complete lluid tightness is ensured both for the propellant and for the liquid 1 which cannot escape from the dispenser and for the outer air which cannot enter the interior of the dispenser. In fact in this position the gasket 21 is gripped between the shoulder 25 and the projection 24 and the orifice 45 is facing the gasket 31. The three ow paths provided in the plug valve are thus obturated.

If the actuator S is pressed (FIGURE 3) the gasket 21 tlexes under the thrust of the rod 6 and frees the orices 56 which open into the cup 18a in the valve body 18.

The propellant in the gaseous state passes from the cartridge 13 into the cup 15a through the orifice 30, then escapes through the orifice 56, flows along the annular duct 55, through the recess 57 and the nozzle in the nozzle insert 9 which it traverses axially (arrow P).

Because the orice 55 has moved inside the tube 14 beyond the gasket 31, the reduced pressure existing at the choke of the nozzle in the insert 9 is transmitted to the axial tube 45 and to the tube 14. The active product to be sprayed rises through the tube 1d and the duct 45 and is atomized when it reaches the choke portion 53 of the nozzle through the ducts 49 (arrow L).

As the gasket 21 is flexed, it moves away from the projection 24 and the atmospheric air lows into the annular chamber 42, and through the bleeder 41 into the container 2.

It is thought that the invention and its advantages will be understood from the foregoing description and it is apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing its material advantages, the forms hereinbefore described and illustrated in the drawings being merely preferred embodments thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. A plug valve assembly for dispensers of fluid products and having a product container for containing the uid product to be dispensed and adapted to accommodate a propellant cartridge within the product container, said plug valve assembly comprising a hollow rod, a valve actuator on the upper end of said rod and having a nozzle therein, a cap member having an aperture therein through which the hollow rod is movable, a valve body on the lower side of said cap member and into which said valve rod is slidable through said aperture, the assembly having three ow paths therethrough, one for the propellant, one for the uid product, and one for the atmospheric air to ow into the space within the product container above the fluid product, two flexible gaskets in said assembly through which said hollow rod passes, one of said gaskets obturating two of said ow paths and the other gasket obturating the third flow path, a propellant cartridge secured to said valve body, and a dip tube extending through said propellant cartridge to the bottom of said valve body and opening into said one ow path, said dip tube being in fluid tight engagement with said propellant cartridge where it passes therethrough.

2. A plug valve assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which the gasket acting as the obturator for two of said ow paths obturates the propellant flow path and the ow path for connecting the interior of the product container with the atmosphere, and the other gasket obturates the ow of the product to be sprayed.

3. A plug valve assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which the gasket acting as a double obturator consists of a ilexible collar fitted between the cap member and the valve body, the valve body being secured within the mouth of the propellant cartridge.

4. A plug valve as claimed in claim 3 in which Said hollow rod has a constriction therein and a duct therethrough from the constriction to the upper end thereof, said valve actuator having a passage therethrough from the end of said hollow rod duct to the nozzle, said passage and duct constituting a part of the flow path for the propellant, and said gasket acting as the double obturator has the inner edge thereof engaged in said constriction when the hollow rod is in the raised position to block said duct in said hollow rod.

5. A plug valve as claimed in claim 3 in which said cap member has an annular projection depending from the edge of said aperture, and said rod has a shoulder thereon engaging under the inner edge of said gasket, said gasket acting as the double obturator being compressed between said shoulder and said annular projection for obturating flow of fluid between said gasket and said annular projection and flow of lluid between said gasket and said shoulder.

6. A plug valve as claimed in claim 5 in which said flow path for the atmospheric air to ow into the space within the product container includes the aperture in said cap member, said aperture being slightly larger than said rod, and said cap member having a passage therein from said annular projection into the interior of said product container, said engagement of said annular projection with said gasket obturating said last-mentioned flow path.

7. A plug valve assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which said valve body has a valve cup therein, the end of said hollow rod projecting into said valve cup and having a plug thereon sliding within said valve cup, said valve body having an opening therein opening into the propellant cartridge.

8. A plug valve assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which said rod has a duct extending therethrough forming a part of the ow path of the liuid to be dispensed, said duct communicating at the actuator end thereof with the spray nozzle, ysaid rod having at the end within the valve body a lateral opening opening out of said duct, said lateral opening being within said other gasket when the rod is in the raised position and extending below the said other gasket and being in communication with the dip tube when the rod is in the lowered position.

9. A plug valve assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which said dip tube extends substantially axially through said propellant cartridge.

10. A plug valve assembly as claimed in claim 9 in which said valve body has a sleeve extending from the bottom thereof and said dip tube is engaged in said sleeve, said other gasket being held between the end of the dip tube and the inner end of said sleeve.

11. A plug valve a-ssembly as claimed in claim 1 in which said cap member has a shape for capping the product container and has an `annular depending projection engaged around the top of the propellant cartridge.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,289,949 12/1966 Roth 239-306 X 3,326,469 6/ 1967 Abplanalp et al. 239-308 `SAMEUL F. COLEMAN, Primary Examiner. 

